Hearts boss Paulo Sergio set for crunch talks with Vladimir Romanov over his Tynecastle future

PAULO SERGIO last night revealed he will meet Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov next week in a bid to thrash out his future.

PAULO SERGIO last night revealed he will meet Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov next week in a bid to thrash out his future.

But the Jambos boss fears drastic cuts could undermine his ambitions.

Director Sergejus Fedotovas made it clear at the club’s agm that holding on to the Scottish Cup-winning boss is their top priority.

But as Romanov’s right-hand man addressed shareholders yesterday, Sergio was speaking in Portugal about his concerns over taking Hearts forward in a limited budget.

The former Sporting Lisbon boss is still unsure if he has a future at Gorgie despite leading the Jambos to Scottish Cup success and a Europa League spot by finishing fifth in the SPL.

But Sergio, 44, is worried about being able to sustain that while Romanov cuts costs with key man Ian Black being allowed to leave and other star players heading for the exit door.

But Fedotovas told fans the club haven’t given up hope of securing Rudi Skacel on fresh terms after his two-goal show in the Cup Final.

Sergio admitted his future should have been sorted by now but is ready to sit down with Romanov.

The manager said: “We will have a meeting early next week where everything will be settled.

“I want to stay. I like the club and the city and the owners of the club also want to keep me.

“But I am concerned about being able to build a team with the planned budget reductions.

“I am worried about whether we can establish the objectives I want to achieve.

“Ideally, this should all have been sorted and I would be able to prepare pre-season. I must adapt but the situation is not ideal.

“There was a good balance to the team last season. We finished fifth to get into Europe and won the Cup after beating Celtic in the semis.”

Fedotovas said: “The board sees it as priority No.1 to resolve the situation with the manager. We want to keep Paulo Sergio.

“We brought him in at the start of the season to achieve success and results.

“This has materialised and we are looking to continue the work and partnership with him.”

Sergio was delighted to see a turbulent season in which players’ wages were delayed ending on a high when they hammered Hibs to lift the Scottish Cup. He said: “Things returned to normal (with the wages) after March.

“The critical period was between October and February. We had to sell five major players in January to balance the accounts because the income dropped. But with what we did in the Cup we almost paid ourselves back.

“It gave me enormous pride to win the game and have family and friends watching from the stands.

“It was a derby, the most important game for our fans, and to win 5-1 gave me spectacular joy.”

But Sergio joked he had to calm his cup celebrations – because he’d end up fat.

He said: “The beers continue to flow. There is so much desire to drink beer but I try to hide – otherwise the belly gets bigger.

“The celebrations have been crazy and the people are so affectionate.

“The whole squad are treated like heroes. We receive special treatment.”

Despite Skacel suggesting he would be departing, Fedotovas insisted the club were keen to extend his stay.

Fedotovas added: “Any supporter wants to see the best players and we will do all we can to make this possible. The board has no objections to keeping Rudi.”

It was also confirmed that Romanov still intends to sell the club.

Fedotovas said: “It depends on a bidder being available to agree a deal with the existing shareholders.”

Shareholders were also told the club would be seeking special dispensation from UEFA to allow them to use Tynecastle as their home for the Europa League.”